Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Ben, you're a good man.

I travel so much, constantly going from airport to airport and new city to new city, that I sometimes feel that I live in a bubble. This has its disadvantages, sure, like when a friend references something from popular culture and I just kinda nod along, having little idea what they're actually talking about, but there's also one huge advantage: I'm constantly surrounded by positivity. Doing TOMS 24/7 means that I'm always fueled by passionate and inspiring people. This includes everyone from the children who light up with joy when we put shoes on their feet, to the incredible TOMS team that makes all of our giving possible, to the crowds of students and business leaders that I have the pleasure of sharing the TOMS story with.

I mention all of this because there's someone that I want to introduce you all to. Ben Goldhirsh is a great friend of mine, and also a mentor that has guided me since the very early days of TOMS. Ben is the founder of GOOD Magazine. Just like the name implies, GOOD is all about the positive and inspiring things that are happening in the world. Go ahead, check it out now. GOOD spotlights news stories that other media outlets don't pay attention to. Hot button issues like global warming and education reform are presented in an unbiased and easily understood way, and they tell you about companies that you can be proud to support.

For almost six months now, TOMS and GOOD have been collaborating on an insert called the Giving Report which just hit the newsstands. This is something that I'm immensely proud of, and for which I would like to give a huge shout-out to Ben for helping to make this happen. The Giving Report goes into detail about why TOMS gives shoes, the types of shoes we give, and how we work with our giving partners. Whether you are a TOMS veteran, or totally new to our movement, I promise that you'll get something valuable from this report.

To celebrate finishing this project, I sent Ben a pair of highland brown botas... to which, he responded back by emailing over the following pictures and captions. I hope that these photos make your day, as they did mine :)

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did I say I was going to be dunking on dudes once these new TOMS arrived?